TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie is a leading choice among New Hampshire Republicans to head to the White House in 2016 , a new poll shows.

But if GOP voters in the Granite State really had their way, they’d tap two-time presidential hopeful Mitt Romney as their next commander in chief.

New Jersey’s governor came in at a distant second among likely Republican voters’ choice for their party’s presidential nomination, according to a new Suffolk University/Boston Herald survey released today. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, was the favorite among 24 percent of New Hampshire's GOP voters, besting the field by a more than 2-1 margin.

However, when Romney was taken out of the mix of possible contenders, Christie tied with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) at 11 percent. Both men were followed closely by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) at 8 percent, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman at 7 percent and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla) at 5 percent, according to the poll.

According to his schedule, Christie will campaign with Walt Havenstein in Manchester and attend two RGA fundraisers in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state with the gubernatorial hopeful.

Christie helped raise $50 million for the RGA since he became chairman late last year. He has visited 15 states to campaign with Republican candidates since heading the national group.